A season ago, Texas A&M lost three games in a row early in Big 12 conference play and were able to recover and earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. But the Aggies were never 1-4 in conference play like they are now.

But being through it before has its perks, and the mental state of the Aggies doesn't seem to be phased as they prepare to host Texas Tech Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at Reed Arena according to head coach Mark Turgeon.

"We're fine. It's no fun losing, but it's a long season and I think we're fine," Turgeon said. "We tried really hard last week in practice and I thought we played with really great effort on Saturday at Texas, so I expect our guys to continue to do that. I know mentally our staff is good and I think our players are the same. We're looking forward to these last 11 games."

Wednesday's game kicks off a very important week for the Aggies who have back-to-back home games against the Red Raiders and the return trip from Oklahoma State on Saturday. With a 1-4 record in conference play, protecting the home court is a big deal for A&M this week.

But according to Turgeon, that isn't the kind of pressure the Aggies need to be under. Instead, focusing on playing better and improving is at the forefront of the week's agenda.

"You never want to put that kind of pressure on yourself or your team. You want to play well. We showed signs. We took one game off and didn't play with effort, but we played with effort in every other game," Turgeon said. "I thought we got better against Texas in a lot of things. There are still obviously some things we need to work, but we'll get better this week and hopefully play well at home. We've been good at home all year. Oklahoma came in here and got us but it was a heck of a game and a heck of a crowd. We're looking forward to this week."